They better had, if they go, if they are going for a legit reason, not just to get on a 3 year piss up resulting in a load of debt they will never pay off like 90% of folk I know who have been!
You have to pass each year at uni to make it into the next year. Your first year is harder than a levels, your second year harder than the first and so on. I don't know what degrees the people you knew did. But it's not a three year piss up by any manner of means. Sure they have a social life, they are kids, but there is a huge amount of work involved in getting a degree also.